With increasingly smaller dimension scaling in memory integrated circuit (IC) fabrication, filling deep isolation trenches, as may be used, for example, in FLASH memory structures, without voids has become more difficult. This is particularly true for isolation trenches that use a nitride liner with an HDP oxide fill. The addition of a nitride liner provides several benefits, including improved corner rounding at the bottom and sidewalls of the isolation trenches to decrease the occurrence of voids, reduced stress adjacent the trench isolation structure, and reduced electrical leakage. However, a nitride liner is typically a spin-on-dielectric (SOD). The SOD process leaves residual nitride materials in the vicinity of the active area. Nitrides at the active areas may cause a shift in electrical parameters and device reliability degradation.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a method of forming an isolation trench, including deep isolation trenches, that can exploit the conformal properties of nitride film without leaving nitride materials in the vicinity of the device's active areas.